Vendemmia - vintage season in South Italy

This weekend in Salento the season  of vintage and new wine making is opening. This period in Italy is called vendemmia. This year, some wineries have decided to make the fiest of the first day of the vintage and invited people to participate. That's why we ended up in the vinery of Tenuta Rubino.
Tables with wine and seat for those who are tired were prepared.

Grapes are cutted off by hand using shears or a knife, I did not see any time in Salento machine harvesting. The damage done by machines and oxidation in contact with the metal get badly affect on the taste - and the wine loses its quality. Now, of course, seasonal workers are involved, often foreigners or immigrants, but traditionally the vintage is always done by women, who were helped by children, friends and relatives. Earlier, when every family had a vineyard, all families helped each other in vintage  season - today the whole village helping my family, tomorrow yours, and the next day to the neighbors. My husband when he was a child partecipated vendemmia.

Jokes, songs, music, laughter - are accompaning the vintage.

I also had a hand, so that in some of the bottles of wine are a few grapes Malvasia Rossa, which was cutted by me ))

Grapes are gently folded into boxes, which then will be transported by the tractor to the winery and in november we will tast the vine of 2013 season!